With class sizes expanding, mother of three students asks school board to look over its rules.

Burbank Unified is reviewing its head lice policy after a mother appealed to the school board for more conservative rules, especially as class sizes get bigger and more students are crowded together.

Under the district’s current policy, students “shall be excluded from attendance” when their heads have active, adult lice, but the rule doesn’t apply to eggs, also known as nits.

Undine Petrulis, who has three children enrolled in Burbank Unified, appealed to the school board to change the policy to send students home, even if the eggs haven’t hatched.

“With our class sizes now over 30 and with them possibly even going up more, lice is spreading through our classrooms,” Petrulis said. “These eggs hatch. We don’t know when they’re going to hatch. We don’t know when they’re going to be crawling around.”

But officials say they must balance those fears with making sure students aren’t unnecessarily sent home and accrue absences that can affect academic performance.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “the burden of unnecessary absenteeism to the students, families and communities far outweighs the risks associated with head lice.”